Making its Mark: How Markforged Got its Start

How does a young entrepreneur break into an established industry? Well, it helps when the concept behind the company has the potential to turn the industry on its head. That’s what Greg Mark, CEO of Markforged, did when he introduced the industry’s first continuous carbon fiber 3D printer. With the help of SOLIDWORKS’s user-friendly CAD software, Mark was able to change the pace and direction of the 3D printer market.

“Buying SOLIDWORKS was a no-brainer,” Mark says, “It’s a great CAD package because it makes us fast. The world moves fast, and we have to move faster to stay ahead of the competition. SOLIDWORKS is a key differentiator because we can maintain the speed that is critical to our success as the company grows.”

SOLIDWORKS juxtaposes innovation and iteration, which lets users to creatively invent and then test out products while they are designing. To the joy of engineers everywhere, this capability enabled Markforged to create custom 3D printers for its customers. Mark’s printer grants users the ability to create end-level, carbon products at a cheaper and faster rate, while possessing the same strength a metal product would have.

Mark has now moved on to create the “Mark X,” the largest and most advanced printer (image below) in the company’s portfolio. Despite its size, it still remains extremely accurate and remains within 50 microns of the intended target. This printer was only made possible due to the accuracy and intricacy of the SOLIDWORKS Premium software, which helped find the best build in minutes, instead of the usual hours.

Along with the accuracy of SOLIDWORKS Premium software, SOLIDWORKS PDM helps Mark’s fast-moving and growing company stay organized. “It’s too easy to have the wrong version of something land in the wrong person’s hands,” says Senior Mechanical Engineer Bennett Wilson, “SOLIDWORKS PDM ensures that we’re always working on the right version and can collaborate more frequently and effectively.” This ease of collaboration has enabled Markforged to print parts to build more 3D printers from its own printers.

To read more about Markforged and how SOLIDWORKS software helped put them the company ahead of the curve, click here.

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Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. offers complete 3D software tools that let you create, simulate, publish, and manage your data. SolidWorks products are easy to learn and use, and work together to help you design products better, faster, and more cost-effectively. The SolidWorks focus on ease-of-use allows more engineers, designers and other technology professionals than ever before to take advantage of 3D in bringing their designs to life.